FACING THE HEAT- PART 1

Kasaragod solar plants draw public ire, companies mull sweetening deal

In a two-part series 'Facing the heat', Onmanorama looks into protests against Kasaragod solar power plants,how companies plan to address concerns and govt's future plans.
On a March summer day, Indus Assist, a solar energy company, drilled a 320-foot bore well near an Adivasi settlement at Nelliyadukkam, Kasaragod's Madikai panchayat. The company, part of the JSW Group led by Sajjan Jindal, is building a 22MW solar power plant to supply power to seven Aster DM hospitals in Kerala. That same day, Biju K, a truck driver, saw his bore well run dry — perhaps because it tapped the same aquifer. "Indus Assist owns around 16 acres at Nelliyadukkam, but they chose to drill a bore well near mine," said Biju, a truck driver living with his wife and two children on a 17-cent plot.

"Their solar panels are coming up just 3 metres from my land, with no buffer zone."After the BJP, the dominant party in the area, intervened, Indus Assist allowed Biju’s family to use their bore well and promised to drill a new one for him. However, the company later backtracked, asking him to drill the well and agreed to cover the cost. “In April, I gave them an estimate of Rs 75,000 and, with their approval, drilled the well. But they only gave me Rs 30,000, forcing me to borrow the rest on a high interest,” Biju said.

"We lost our peace, water, and Rs 45,000 on their first day here."Nelliyadukkam falls in Ambalathara revenue village, which is becoming a solar power hub in Kasaragod. Indus Assist, an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company, said it has 52 acres -- 16 acres at Nelliyadukkam and 36 acres at Velluda 500m from Nelliyadukkam -- to set up the 22MW captive solar plant for Aster hospitals. It is likely to be upgraded to 24MW. U Solar, a startup EPC, has also bought land at Nelliyadukkam.

Similarly, Uralungal Labor Contract Cooperative Society (ULCC), which is building the 36km stretch from Thalapaddy to Chengala of NH66, is looking to set up a 10MW plant at Kanam in Kodom-Belur grama panchayat, but only 1.5km from the solar plant cluster at Velluda. ULCC said it wants to use power from the solar plant to light up the highway and run the traffic management system.In September 2017, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) set up a 50MW on-grid solar plant on 400 acres at Velluda, 500m from Nelliyadukkam. KSEBL, the state government's distribution company, created an ecosystem for solar plants at Ambalathara by setting up a 200 MVA (megavolt ampere) sub-station to accept the solar energy and inject it into the grid.

Residents of Ambalathara village said solar plants consumed vast tracts of land, isolating communities and, more critically, depleting groundwater and creating very few jobs compared to the scale of investment. IREDA invested Rs 311 crore on its 50MW plant but is providing only 16 jobs (mostly as security guards) to residents, said Sreejith KV, convenor of Grama Samrakshana Samithi (Village Protection Committee), formed to oppose the captive solar projects coming up around the sub-station in Ambalathara village. "We made a mistake by not opposing IREDA's project back in 2016," he said.Vivek Kottappara, a resident, said groundwater levels at Karakode, Nayaradukkam, Nelliyadukkam, and Velluda have dipped. These are places around IREDA's solar plant, he said.

In June 2023, Raveendran NV, a resident of Nelliyadukkam Adivasi Colony, wrote to the Kasaragod Collector Inbasekar K asking if more solar plants were coming up near their settlement. The Collector wrote back in November saying the government has taken no steps to allow the construction of solar plants near the colony. "Three months later, Indus Assist drilled a bore well near my house. Why is the government keeping us in the dark about its plans? If I had known, I wouldn’t have moved here," said Biju, who built his house two and a half years ago. Sreejith, a BJP taluk-level leader, said the proposed solar plant of Indus Assist would also create hurdles for conducting the Pongala puja at Sri Durga Bhagavathi Temple at Velluda.

He said around 1,500 devotees come to the temple during the festival, and nearby private land was used for parking cars.

The company representatives say that they are welcome to addressing any kind of concerns. Indus Assist regional head N Krishna Kumar said the devotees were free to use the land near the temple to park their vehicles, and the project would also have jobs for residents, based on their qualifications. "We're open to addressing their concerns. However, that can't be used to block the project. The plant will be Kerala's largest captive solar plant," he said.

Legally, the protest committee opposes the project by accusing Indus Assist of encroaching on government and private land to set up the solar plant, an allegation which is denied by the company.

Shankaran Embrandiri (52), a temple priest, said the company had levelled 4 of the 6.81 acres his family owned at Velluda. Indus Assist regional head N Krishna Kumar said Shankaran, who lives 15km away in Nileshwar, could not even identify his land. "We have done our due diligence and bought private plots in the clear. The land which Shankaran is claiming to be his belonged to one Jomy Thomas," he said and added that his company was open to buying Shankaran's land too, if its documents were in order. Residents, however, blocked the company's trucks bringing in materials to fence the property. The dispute has reached the High Court of Kerala.

On Monday, September 9, Justice VG Arun directed Ambalathara Village Officer Abdul Samad A to ascertain whether the activities of Indus Assist were confined to the area over which it had clear title deeds. When contacted, Village Officer Abdul Samad said that the company was issued the 'pokkuvaravu' or property mutation certificate while transferring the title of a property from one person to another. "They (Indus Assist) have bought land from private individuals and the Revenue Land Records show them as the new owner.Whether the procured plots include government surplus land can only be determined through a survey," he said.

Surplus or excess land refers to the land taken over by the government from people who owned land beyond the ceiling (around 15 acres) set under the Kerala Land Reforms Act of 1963. This excess land is meant to be redistributed to the landless and promote social equity. Protesters said the surplus land at the disputed place was yet to be assigned to the poor. The Village Office is expected to provide clarity on the land ownership on September 23, when the High Court is scheduled to hear the case next. The court not only made the Village Officer a party to the case but also directed him to "visit the disputed site and ascertain with the help of the revenue records whether the activities of the petitioner (Indus Assist) is confined to the properties over which it has title".

Are solar plants coming up only in BJP wards?
In 2016, when the state government had to identify land to set up a 200MW solar park in Kerala, it zeroed in on Kasaragod. A 200MW park can light up 2 lakh homes. Also, only a plant with a capacity of 200MW and above is classified as a solar park by the Union government. KSEBL formed a joint venture with the Union government's Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SCIL) called Renewable Power Corporation of Kerala Limited (RPCKL) to develop solar parks in Kerala. The government identified 1,086.74 acres in Vazhakode and Kanhirapoyil wards in Madikai grama panchayat and Kadenkode ward in Paivalike panchayat. IREDA implemented the first solar plant of 50MW at Veluda in Madikai panchayat's Vazhakode ward in September 2017. In December 2020, NTPC's Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Limited (THDCL) commissioned a 50 MW solar plant on a 250-acre plot at Kommangala in Paivalike's Kadenkode ward.

However, the solar plant at Kanhirapoyil did not take off because of CPM's vociferous protests. The CPM raised the same concerns that the BJP is raising now at Veluda and Nelliyadukkam in Vazhakode ward: that if all the government land is taken up for solar projects, there won't be any left for other developmental projects that will create jobs. However, Madikai grama panchayat President and CPM leader S Preetha did not empathise with the Vazhakode protest as much as she did with the Kanhirapoyil people. She said that the local body had nothing to do with Indus Assist's solar plant because the company was buying private land for the project. Yet, the state government is in talks with ULCC to lease out 27 acres to the construction company to set up a 10MW solar park at Kanam in Paraklayi ward in Kodom-Belur panchayat. "The government is ignoring the people's protest at Paraklayi and Vazhakode wards because they are BJP wards," said Sreejith of the protest committee.

The CPM dominates Madikai and Kodom-Belur grama panchayats. However, Vazhakode ward in Madikai and Paraklayi ward in Kodom-Belur have traditionally been BJP strongholds. Of the total 1,500 votes in Vazhakode, the CPM gets fewer than 60 votes; and in Paraklayi, it gets fewer than 100 votes. Kanam in Paraklayi and Veluda in Vazhakode are only 1.5 km apart. Sreejith said the protest against the solar plants in the two wards is people's protest but as most of the residents are supporters of BJP, it is being labelled as BJP's protest and ignored.But that argument is not true, said solar EPC companies.

The THDCIL's 50MW solar plant at Kommangala in Paivalike panchayat is in Kadenkode, a CPM-controlled ward. "We prefer to set up solar plants at Velluda and Kanam in Ambalathara village because of their proximity to the sub-station, which has free bays to accept the power we generate," said an official of ULCC. There is land available in Paivalike panchayat but the nearest 110kV substation is 5km away and has no free bay, he said.ULCC said its talks with the government for land were in a nascent stage. "We have not yet presented our business model. But unfortunately, we got clubbed with other companies and people are opposing our entry at Kanam," said an executive of ULCC.He said ULCC needed only 16 acres for setting up a 10MW solar plant. "But we are asking for an extra 11 acres to come up with a business model that will improve the living standards of residents. There are 30 families around the proposed land," he said.

Sargaalaya Arts and Crafts Village at Iringal in Vadakara was a quarry turned around to become a tourist attraction and create jobs for thousands of artisans, he said. "Similarly, we are thinking of projects such as farm tourism or a calm-space destination near the solar plant. We will also have plans to improve the groundwater level and use new technology to reduce the consumption of water. It is too early. But it will be a model for other solar players," said the ULCC executive.
Part 2 : KSEB explores Attappadi for setting up solar parks as Kasaragod stumbles towards 200MW capacity